The holidays are not a happy time for all of us, and, after this election….well. We talked about coping with all kinds of GRIEF & LOSS on MidPoint on WMNF Radio on Wed 12/18 with my guests, professional bereavement counselor Corrine Gaertner of LifePath Hospice, and certified resilience coach Beth Levin of Joyous Again, LLC.
Our counselors emphasized that everyone’s grief is different and personal, and you should give yourself grace during holiday time. An important coping mechanism was truly feeling your emotions about your loss, knowing what might help you and what might be difficult, and planning ahead. That may mean doing things differently to make new traditions and have new experiences without your person, telling people in advance whether or not you are prepared to speak about your feelings of loss now or not, deciding whether to accept or reject holiday invitations to parties and celebrations or just informing your host in advance that you may come but leave early. It may mean honoring your person by making a donation to their favorite charity, or memorializing them by doing acts of service in their name.
You may not have experienced a death in your circle, but perhaps you’ve become estranged from family or friends over politics in this volatile election year, or because of a divorce, or for other reasons. That estrangement is also a form of loss as people are missing from around your holiday table or at your holiday celebrations. The holidays may be a time of reconciliation for you or a time to resolve to celebrate without those people who no longer deserve a place in your holiday celebrations.
Get some coping tools to help you through it all. Listen to the entire show here, or on the WMNF app, or as a WMNF podcast from your favorite podcast source.
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